Ships in Small Bottles (coming in January) includes small projects to accompany each Psalm and poem in the collection. Call it a kinetic devotional.
December 16 in The Other Stars Hover & Wait begins with a poem called “Data Suggests We Must Be Trained Or We Will Not Respond” about confronting the self-protective instinct that can keep us from engaging with others in need, an instinct Jesus trains us to overcome.
As part of your meditation today, try this exercise.
What You Need:
- a mug of hot cocoa
- a candy cane
- paper and pen
Apprentice Practice:
Prepare the cocoa as you consider the candy cane, a small bit of sweetness in a shape that recalls our need for assistance. Stir the cocoa with the candy cane. Let it melt while you draws two columns on your page. On one side make a list of the people you’ve propped up in 2020 – people you’ve reached out to even when it meant rocking your own boat, people you’ve allowed, even invited, to lean on you through a crisis. On the other side, make a list of people who’ve held their hand out to you, people who have lightened your load with their encouragement or support. Celebrate these successes of giving and receiving as you wait on sweetness to dissolve the need.
Advanced Art:
Drink to the opportunities coming in 2021. Toast a host of small appointments you don’t know about yet and savor the ways people do show up for each other again and again. Rather than counting failures and flaws, count the ways you blessed and were blessed at the close of a difficult calendar. Let that drive your resolve to be present for others in the coming year.
